A Moroccan-born drug lord wanted by Belgian authorities over international cocaine trafficking has been arrested in Dubai after years on the run, Belgian media reported.
Naserdine Tarrahi, known as “Nadori,” was detained last week at Dubai Mall by Emirati authorities. Belgian outlets reported that another Moroccan suspect, Najib “Troy E.M.,” who is also wanted by Belgian justice, was arrested during the same operation.
38-year-old Tarrahi had fled Belgium before the latest verdict against him was issued. In May, a Belgian court sentenced him in absentia to 12 years in prison, fined him €96,000, and ordered the confiscation of assets worth approximately €5 million.
Belgian prosecutors accuse Tarrahi of leading a criminal network that imported at least 840 kilograms of cocaine in 2020. Investigators relied in part on evidence obtained from decrypted messages exchanged through the encrypted communication platform Sky ECC, which has played a central role in dismantling organized crime networks across Europe.
According to Belgian media, the messages suggested Tarrahi directed the operation from Dubai while associates managed shipments from a building in the Antwerp district of Borgerhout. The premises were reportedly equipped with surveillance cameras, allowing him to monitor activities remotely.
Tarrahi was already a familiar figure to Belgian investigators. He had previously been linked to the so-called “Turtles” gang, accused of stealing a cocaine shipment in 2012, an incident that allegedly triggered a wave of violent reprisals.
In 2022, he was also sentenced in absentia to five years in prison in a separate case involving the “Mixers” criminal network. Combined with the latest ruling, the prison sentences handed down against him total 17 years.
If extradited to Belgium, Tarrahi will be entitled to challenge the in absentia convictions under Belgian judicial procedures, potentially reopening one of Antwerp’s most prominent cocaine trafficking cases.
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